


A Mask Not Removed [Hiatus]

by Storijophe



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Gen, Help what is pacing anyway, Like really this is going to be super slow guys, Mishima is cool, Morgana is a cat, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ryuji isn't stupid, Slow Burn, let ryuji say fuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:47:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24445291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storijophe/pseuds/Storijophe
Summary: "This Trickster is an interesting character. He seems to help everyone, while avoiding any help himself. How his friends and teammates handle this is sure to be interesting, wouldn't you agree?" commented the long-nosed man to his Twin Wardens. "I should like to see how he intends to win this game, if he remains so distant."Akira doesn't open up very much, and seems to be the kind of guy that helps for as little in return as necessary.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

_**“Get off of me!” the woman cried...** _

_**“Damn brat,** **I’ll** **sue!” the angry man yelled...** _

_**Police sirens and the flash of headlights…** _

Akira awoke with a gasp. _I’m on a train, not back there._

_ “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left, will open.” _

He sighed, and stood as the train stopped. _This is my stop, I guess._

Walking out of the train station, he paused at the flurry of activity. _The city really is this busy, huh._

As he began to walk forward, he heard a notification from his phone, and looked down. _Really, this stupid app again?!_ Deleting it quickly, he made his way through the station, and took the line to Yongen-Jaya.

Once he got off the subway, he made his way into the backstreets, quietly taking in every part of his surroundings. _Sakura Sojiro, huh...guess I better find his house. He should be somewhere around here. Maybe I can ask that police officer over there._

Akira walked up to the officer, who glanced at him with a suspicious look and barked “Yes?”

With a blank face, Akira calmly asked “I’d like to ask for directions to this address,” and held out his phone.

Raising one eyebrow at him, the officer looked at his phone before pointing down the street. “Down that way, to the right after the apartment with the stairs.”

Bowing slightly and quietly saying “Thank you officer,” Akira continued his walk down the narrow street. Passing the apartment with stairs, he turned right down the alleyway, and walked up to what he presumed to be the Sakura house.

Confirming his suspicions was a name plate right above a mail slot. He took a glance around, noticing it was the only house not attached to a store or as a set of apartments. _Nice enough, though it looks a little dull. Not that it matters, it’s a place to live._

Ringing the doorbell, he waited a minute before ringing it again. _Guess no one’s home..._

A delivery man called to him “Looking for Sojiro-san? He’s probably at his cafe, Leblanc. It’s back that way and around the corner,” before pointing the direction the teen had just come from. “He’s usually there around this time at least, so that’s my best guess. I’ll stop by later,” he said, before turning around and getting back in his van.

 _Back the way I came, great._ Akira sighed and turned around, making his way back down the street. Looking at the buildings around him, he didn’t see anything that stood out as a cafe. Glancing down one of the side streets, a neon light in a window caught his eye. _Maybe…_ He made his way towards the store, and saw the words “Coffee & Curry, Leblanc” on the awning. Smirking slightly, he pushed the door open and walked inside.

The smell of the place was the first thing that hit him. Coffee was the most obvious, intense, though clearly from a variety of different beans, each mixing together to create something new. Riding quietly beneath was the smell of curry, not as intense but just as noticeable, making his mouth water slightly.

Looking around, the place had a decidedly retro look, all wood and dull colors, with pops of brighter colors coming from the lamps over the tables and the seats. The TV was playing the local news station, only a few customers were present, and the place was incredibly welcoming.

_Maybe I’ll get to work here, I already like this place._

The man who was currently working looked up from his crossword at him, scowling slightly. “...Right. They did say that was today, didn’t they?”

Noticing the look on his face, the elderly couple sitting at one of the tables shared a look and began to stand up. The elderly man said “We’ll be going now, the payment is on the table. Thanks again, Boss,” as they slowly shuffled out of the cafe.

“Thanks for coming!” he called. Sighing once they left, his shoulders slumped as he said “Four hours for one cup of joe…” Turning to look at Akira, “So, you’re Akira, huh?”

Akira quietly replied “Yes, is Sakura-san here?”

Giving him a look of mild annoyance, the man sighed and said “...Yeah. I’m Sakura Sojiro. I’m sure you know, but you’ll be in my custody over the next year.” He looked Akira up and down before saying “I was wondering what kind of unruly kid it was going to be, but you’re him, huh?”

Sojiro scratched the back of his head for a second before saying “Did anyone tell you? A customer of mine knows your parents, and well-” He paused for a second and looked at the blank look on Akira’s face. “...Actually, it doesn’t matter. Follow me.” He turned and walked up the stairs at the back of the cafe.

Walking up the stairs, Akira saw a dusty attic, packed full of boxes, old books, and presumably whatever else Sojiro had needed space for. Sojiro glanced around and said “This is your room. Don’t worry, I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” Akira glanced down, to which Sojiro scowled slightly and said “You have something you need to say?”

Akira glanced around again and quietly said “It’s...quite spacious. Thank you.” _God, this place is so dusty, I’ll be cleaning forever…_

Sojiro gave him a slightly guilty look and said “It’s on you to clean up the rest. Don’t break anything, got it?” He rubbed the back of his neck before scowling slightly at Akira, “I don’t have a lot of rules, but I’ll be leaving after I lock up each day. You will be alone at night, but don’t do anything stupid. I’ll throw you out if you cause trouble. Got it?”

Akira just nodded, not wanting to say anything to anger Sojiro. _Not like I have anywhere I’d like to go, anyway._

Sojiro eyed him for a second before continuing. “Now then. I’ve got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself onto her, he got injured, and sued you. Right? That’s what you get for sticking your nose in adult matters. You did injure him, yeah? And now that you’ve got a criminal record, you’ve been expelled. You were ordered to transfer here, your parents approved it, and now you’re my problem.”

He smirked, and said “So they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass. Don’t talk about anything unnecessary like this, alright? I’m running a business here.” He sighed and his face softened slightly. “Look, behave yourself for the next year, your probation will be lifted, and you can go back to your parents.”

 _Not like here is going to be any worse._ Akira just nodded and replied “I’ll make sure not to cause you any grief.”

Sojiro smiled slightly and nodded. “Good, I’m glad we understand each other. I’ve got a cafe to run, so get settled in. We’ll be going to your school, Shujin, tomorrow, so you can be introduced to your teachers. You’re lucky, not many places would accept someone like you.”

He pointed to the rather unnecessarily large box on the floor, “Your stuff arrived earlier. It was pretty light, so I brought it up for you. No need to thank me. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs.” Sojiro then walked down the stairs, which creaked from age and lack of use.

 _Guess I should unpack, I can work on cleaning this stuff up after I get this box out of the way._ Akira began to pull out his belongings, which basically amounted to his clothes, toiletries, and an old copy of the first Harry Potter book he hadn’t read in ages. Glancing at the numerous piles of books around him, he thought to himself, _I guess I already had plenty to read if I find time._

He put his stuff back in the box, leaving some sleepwear on the top, as well as his toothbrush and the book, before looking around at the sorry state of his “room”.

 _I really need to clean this place up, it’s so dusty I could develop_ _allergies in here_ _._ Using some cleaning supplies he found, he began dusting the window and table, then attempted to sweep the floor, which somewhat alleviated the amount of dust on the floor. He found a relatively empty shelf on one of the shelving units, before sliding his box onto it.

 _Just barely fits, but it fits I guess. It’s going to be a real pain getting my clothes out, but there’s not really anywhere else to put them I guess_ , he thought to himself as he glanced around the room.

He had a table with a couch next to it, some kind of work bench that was covered in books, a ‘bed’ that was really just a mattress on some milk crates, a pair of bookshelves that were covered in all sorts of books and various other junk, and another, longer table next to the stairs. _It’s not_ much _better, but it’ll do._

He continued working to get some of the dust out of everything, grabbing the sheets he was promised from Sojiro once he reached his bed.

* * *

A few hours later, Akira heard someone walking up the stairs, and set down his cleaning supplies to see who it was.

Sojiro looked around with a look of surprise on his face, before looking at Akira. “I’m impressed, I heard you making all sorts of noise up here, but I never thought you’d be cleaning. Though I suppose it is natural you’d want to keep your room clean.” Taking another glance around, he nodded slightly, commenting “Honestly, the place doesn’t look half bad.”

He crossed his arms before looking directly at Akira. “Shouldn’t you head to bed or something? It’s not like you have anything else to do, and we need to leave early so we can make it to your school on time.”

Akira nodded, and Sojiro began walking down the stairs. He stopped partway down and called up the stairs “I won’t be taking care of you if you get sick from staying up too late you know, so watch it. There’ll be a plate of curry on the counter down here, so don’t forget to eat, either. And do your own dishes, would you?”

Akira called out “You got it,” took out his Harry Potter book, and sat down on the couch to read.

* * *

A few minutes later, Akira heard the door close, and figured Sojiro had left for the night. _Alone again, huh. Nothing new there I guess._

He went downstairs and ate the curry that was left for him, then did the dishes and got ready for bed.

As he laid down to sleep, he thought back to the night several months ago, which led to him ending up here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this! It's...kinda the first thing I've ever written that wasn't for school. Feel free to tell me how much you love/hate/feel indifferent towards it. I'm the only one that's checking for spelling and grammar and such, so tell me if you notice anything wonky. This is sort of me imagining what it would be like if I was Akira, but I'm still mostly sticking to the main story and everything, and most characters outside of him should be relatively the same. It's definitely just self-indulgent trash, so sorry for that :^)


	2. Chapter 2

It was a chilly spring night. Akira had left work later than usual and thought to himself, _I hope I don’t get in any trouble._

 _That’s odd, it sounds like there’s a couple arguing somewhere,_ he thought as he made his way home. _This town is usually pretty quiet after dark…_

Akira continued his walk, slightly on edge in case of trouble. Rounding the corner, he saw a couple arguing in front of a bar, the man visibly drunk. “Get off of me!”  
He paused and listened for a second. “Oh come on, don’t play hard to get, it’s just me,” he heard the man slur as he grabbed the woman’s arm. _This is looking like trouble…_

The woman began fighting back against the man, struggling to free herself. She began to cry out, “No, get away from me! Someone, help me!” Making eye contact with Akira, she called to him, “Please help me!”

Something inside of him shuddered. It wasn’t his place to intrude, but he couldn’t just stand by either. Sighing, he thought to himself, _I’m going to regret this._

Akira dropped his bag and ran up to the man, pulling him off of the woman and standing between the two. In his drunken haze, the man fell over his own feet, slamming his head against a road-side barrier. _**Shit.**_

Akira looked to the woman, a look of total horror and...pity? On her face. _What have I gotten myself into…_ he thought to himself, before the man shook his head and stood up, leaning heavily on the barrier for support.

Bringing a hand to his head, he had a look of shock on his face, which quickly turned to an angry, malicious smirk as he realized he was bleeding.

“Damn brat...I’ll sue you!” he yelled out, seemingly sobered up. Akira heard the sound of police sirens in the distance, at which the man’s smirk turned into a grin.

“Good, someone called the police. You,” he pointed to the woman. “This man assaulted us suddenly and threw me against this barrier, you got that?” Upon hearing this, the woman opened her mouth as if to speak, but was quickly cut off.

“You know what happens if you don’t do it. Are you willing to take that risk for some kid?” the man asked her as he stared her down. Akira was almost surprised when she shook her head no.

The police arrived then, and as the first officer to step out of the car rushed over, he asked “What seems to be the matter here folks?”

The man promptly replied,”Well this young man right here ruined our date by assaulting me.” The officer made a face as though he recognized the man, and mumbled into his radio before turning to Akira with a pitying look.

“It will be taken care of, no strings attached like usual. Sorry for interrupting your night sir.” The officer then motioned to his partner who had just walked up and they immediately cuffed Akira, before shoving him into the car.

* * *

_That bastard…_ Akira thought to himself, as he felt his eyelids begin to droop. _Nothing to be done about it now…_

His phone rang quite loudly, startling him awake. _Who the hell could that be at this hour?!_

Looking down at his phone, he saw the strange app from earlier in the day had re-appeared. _I already deleted this thing..._

Deleting the app once more, Akira turned off his phone, before finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Water dripped. Akira kept his eyes closed, assuming it was morning, before realizing he definitely wasn't on his bed anymore. Snapping his eyes open, he saw nothing but blue, and a room very much not his own. _What the hell is this?!_

Sitting up, he heard chains jangling together, then realized with a start it was from his wrists, which had been chained together. He heard a childlike giggle, and turned his head to see a set of bars, as though on a jail cell.

Past the cell bars, was a young girl. Short, with white hair put up in two buns, and dressed in what could only be described as a warden's outfit, she was a strange sight to see. The outfit coupled with her single yellow eye, the other covered with a large eye patch with a large golden V on it, left no doubt that something strange was going on. _Great, exactly what I need. A tiny warden for my dream jail._

Akira stood up then and began to walk forward, quickly realizing he also had a large metal ball connected to his ankle by another chain. _Seriously?! Is this really necessary?_

Shuffling towards the cell door, he blinked and it was as though the warden had been duplicated. _Wait, they're slightly different...mirrored, maybe?_

The new warden was identical, except instead of buns she had a short braid, and her eye patch was on her other eye. _Twins, huh..._

Staring at him with an unreadable look, the two girls moved to stand with their backs to the wall on either side of Akira's cell. Looking around, he realized that his was not the only cell, though his was the only one occupied. _Oh boy, maybe I'll get some prison mates in my dream._

With a blinding flash which caused Akira to momentarily cringe away, a desk appeared in the middle of the room, as well as a rug with the same golden V as was on the wardens' eye patch. At the desk sat what Akira could only describe as a goblin. _Nope, not a dream, this is definitely a nightmare._

The man was, from the head down, normal, if small. Wearing a very nice suit and gloves, he looked the part of the rich business man, or perhaps a noble person. His face, however, did not match the aesthetic. His nose was long, so long it looked almost comical, with bulging, bloodshot eyes which couldn't have been human, dream or otherwise. He was bald, with a thin strip of scraggly white hair around the back of his head, and ears that sold the 'goblin' look, being quite long and pointed.

The most unsettling part of the man's face was his grin, being so wide as to be almost literally ear to ear. Despite the grin, there was little humor on the man's face; the only thing Akira could sense from this man's admittedly inhuman face was a malicious joy. Akira inconspicuously pinched himself in the leg. _I better wake up right fucking now I do not want to talk to the goblin._

The man unlaced his gloved hands and held out his hand in what Akira assumed to be a welcoming gesture. "Trickster...welcome to my Velvet Room," the man said to Akira, without so much as slightly moving his face.

Piano music began to play from somewhere out of sight and Akira pulled against the bars, quickly realizing they weren't going to budge. The twin wardens looked at him, and he realized another difference between the two, now that the unreadable mask was gone: one had a decidedly malicious look to her eyes, while the other seemed almost impassive.

The malicious looking one glared at him and said, "So you've come to, Inmate." The quiet one continued with the same impassive look, "The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream."

Leaning his head against the bars, Akira attempted to make some sense of what was going on. _Inmate...Velvet Room? I'm only experiencing this as a dream? Does that mean it isn't one?_

The malicious looking one glared more harshly at him and snapped, "You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" Akira quickly looked up, not wanting to anger his supposedly-dream warden.

The man at the desk continued to stare at him, some sort of amusement tinting his expression. "Welcome, I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well."

Akira glanced around the room and thought to himself, _Yeah, no, definitely going to remember whatever you call this. Velvet Room, Hell, whatever, not forgetting it._

Igor paused for a second, as though reacting to Akira's thoughts. "I summoned you to speak of important matters." Akira noticed a maniacal glint in Igor's eyes. "It involved your life as well."

Akira glanced around, looked at the wardens, who were staring at Igor. He looked at Igor again. _Hell no, I am not helping the goblin bank teller from Harry Potter._

"Let me out," Akira quietly but forcefully requested.

The malicious looking warden turned, looking enraged, and slammed an electrified baton against the bars. "Know your place, Inmate! Who do you think you're talking to!?"

Igor hardly reacted, instead looking around the room curiously, "Still, this is a surprise...The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such."

Igor stared at him accusingly. "You truly are a 'prisoner' of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

Akira thought to himself with a smirk, _The only ruin I see is your sorry excuse for a face_. One of Igor's hands twitched slightly.

"Are you kidding me?" Akira growled angrily. "Whatever is going on, I'll have no part of it, thank you."

The malicious looking warden eyed him menacingly, though Igor merely laughed. "Worry not, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated towards freedom..." Igor seemed to find some humor in saying that. _I really hope I never understand why I can read his face like a normal person's_ , Akira thought to himself.

Igor continued, amusement slowly but noticeably creeping into his voice, "That is your only means to avoid ruin...Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

Akira though for a second. _Avoid ruin, huh...wait, distortion of the world? Resolve to challenge it? What is he talking about?_

"...Wait a second, what are you talking about?" Akira asked, to which the twin wardens both sighed in disappointment.

Igor continued, yet more amusement seeping into his voice as he talked. "You didn't decline, hmm? Very well, that is enough. Allow me to reserve the path of your rehabilitation."

The twin wardens curtly turned in unison to look at Akira, their faces once more unreadable. "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right, is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here. Do not worry yourself over the music; you are unlikely to meet the musicians, and it is intended to help with your rehabilitation."

Akira nodded, accepting the explanation of the music, as he had already given up truly grasping the situation. Caroline turned to him and grinned malevolently, "Try and struggle all you like, Inmate. You will remain here until your rehabilitation is complete." Caroline stared at him with her seemingly typical impassive look, and told him, "The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators." She paused slightly, an unreadable emotion flashing across her face, before continuing, "That is, if you remain obedient."

Igor continued to look with his unwavering grin, and explained to Akira, "You shall learn these two's roles at a later occasion. Now then, it seems the night is waning... it is almost time. Take your time to slowly understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..."

A loud alarm began to ring from Akira's cell. Jumping at the sound, Akira did not notice Caroline facing him until she barked at him, "Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep!"

Akira grabbed the bars of his cell, before slumping to the ground, then fading from view. The wardens returned to standing to either side of his cell, faces unreadable.

Igor let out a deep, rolling laugh, as only a madman could, and talked to seemingly no one, "My, my, this is sure to be delightfully exciting. This game we play shall be so much more interesting than I had anticipated..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Again, comments, corrections, concerns, etc. As you might be able to tell, I'm getting somewhat more confident about how to write this. I'm not entirely sure on how I wrote Igor however, and am worried I may have played up the whole madman thing too much, or been too wordy, so tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Akira's eyes snapped open, staring at the ceiling with his mind blank briefly, before the bizarre dream from last night came back to him.

_What the **hell** was that?! Tiny dream wardens, something about ruin, and a fucking goblin banker?! What on earth is a Velvet Room? How do I know that should be capitalized?!_

Akira shook his head and sat up, remembering his plans for the day. _Right, have to go to Shujin and introduce myself. I'm sure that will go just swimmingly._

He got out of bed and went through what he knew would become a morning routine. After putting on his school uniform of plaid pants, a white polo, and a black blazer with Shujin Academy's symbol on the front, he looked down at himself.

_I look great! Bet I could get a girlfriend even, so long as no one finds out about my record. That could throw a wrench in things._

He sat on his bed and waited for Sojiro to arrive, idly looking at his phone. _Wonder what I can find about a Velvet Room._

He heard the door to the cafe swing open and stood up, stretching as he did so. Sojiro slowly made his way up the stairs and eyed him with an annoyed look on his face, before sighing.

"Good to see you're up and ready to go. We should get going to introduce ourselves, otherwise we'll be late." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"The school is in the Aoyama district, and don't you forget it. It takes a while to get there by train, especially with the transfers on the way. I'll drive you today, but for the rest of your time here, you'd better learn how to take the subway. Now come on, we need to get going." He turned and made his way down the stairs, making it quite clear he didn't care whether Akira followed or not.

Akira silently followed him out of the cafe and down the street, following Sojiro to his car. "I already brought it around so we wouldn't have to walk to the garage," Sojiro called over his shoulder as he climbed in the car.

Akira made his way around the car and climbed in next to Sojiro, who looked at him with an unreadable look on his face. He then grimaced, saying "Sheesh...Men aren't usually allowed in my passenger seat, you know."

* * *

Akira and Sojiro climbed out of the car once they arrived at Shujin. Akira began to walk through the gate, but Sojiro put a hand on his shoulder, saying "Look, make sure you behave yourself, alright?"

Akira turned to him and raised his eyebrow slightly. _So does the old man really have a heart?_

Sojiro saw the look on Akira's face and continued, "Don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble, I have a business to run."

_Well I'll take that as a no,_ Akira thought to himself, his face falling back to his passive mask as he walked through the gates.

* * *

The grotesquely large principal of the school stared at Akira with an arrogant frown on his face after ignoring him to talk to Sojiro for twenty minutes.

"To be absolutely clear, I'm going to reiterate: Cause any trouble whatsoever, and you will be immediately expelled. If I had my way, you wouldn't even be here. So whatever you might have gotten away with before you came here, forget about it."

Akira merely nodded, choosing to remain silent. The principal then turned to the teacher who had stood silently thus far next to him with a still arrogant look on his face and explained, "This is the teacher in charge of your class."

The teacher then looked Akira in the eyes and told him with an appraising look, "I'm Sadayo Kawakami. This is your student ID, don't loose it."

She handed him a card with his name and picture on it, as well as a bright pink piece of paper that looked to be a flyer. Her face reddening, Kawakami quickly grabbed the flyer back from him and shoved it in her purse.

"W-Whoops, didn't mean to grab that too. Anyway, don't cause me any trouble, I won't be there to defend you. You've been given a copy of the school rules, so read them and remember them; any violations will get you sent straight to the guidance office."

She turned to the principal. "That was what you agreed to, correct, Principal Kobayakawa?"

Kobayakawa nodded at her and replied, "He is responsible for all his actions, and causing more trouble will not be tolerated."

Kawakami nodded and with a sigh asked him, "But really though, why me? Someone else could have handled this better. One of the male teachers, maybe."

He merely closed his eyes, as if this had been brought up before, and responded "It was a sudden transfer. Your class was the only one with an opening. I'm sorry, but you'll have to manage somehow."

Akira and Sojiro has been watching the two back and forth, Akira thinking to himself, _Well good to know this went about as well as I expected._

With a sigh and a bored look on his face, Sojiro asked the principal "If you're done going over things, mind if we get going? I have a business to run."

Kobayakawa regained his arrogant frown and turned to the two. "Sakura-san, keep a close eye on him. Don't let him cause any trouble outside of the time he spends at school."

Sojiro scratched the back of his head and replied, "I already had a serious talk with him about his situation, he understands. Trust me, he won't cause any trouble."

Kawakami stiffened as if she had just remembered something, and turned to Akira with the same appraising look as earlier on her face. "Come to the faculty office when you get to school tomorrow, it's just across the hall. I'll show you to your classroom."

Akira nodded and followed Sojiro as he walked out of the room. _Gee, they sure love to act like I'm not even there. At least Sojiro acknowledged my existence, I guess._

Once they got to the school entrance, Sojiro looked at Akira's blank face with a pitying look. "Everyone is giving you the cold shoulder. That's what having a criminal record does, you know. Your past follows you everywhere."

Sojiro's face hardened. "By the way, if you get expelled, I will not hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"

Akira smirked slightly and rubbed the back of his neck, replying "I think I'll manage to scrape by."

Sojiro gave him an angry look and snapped at him, "I can save us the time and kick you out now if you'd prefer, punk."

Akira just looked at him with a passive face and Sojiro sighed before glancing around. "School never changes, does it? Come on, we're going back to the cafe."

* * *

Sojiro and Akira got stuck in traffic, and Sojiro sighed in annoyance. "This traffic isn't going anywhere. This is why you're taking the train starting tomorrow."

Turning to look at Akira, Sojiro asked him, "So, how was it? The school, I mean. Think you'll get by here?"

Akira cocked his head to the side and thought about it. _I mean, the teachers are unfriendly, but they aren't hostile. Hopefully the students will be peaceful, but it's not like I'm really going to get attached to anyone here anyway._

He looked to Sojiro, his smirk from earlier returning, and he quietly responded "Eh, we'll see. Hopefully there aren't any yakuza members in the school."

Sojiro just stared at him without blinking, before shaking his head and turning to look forward again. "...Anyway. Why don't we listen to the radio, not much else to do."

Akira nodded his head and looked out the window idly while Sojiro turned the radio on. Static crackled for a second, before Sojiro grunted and thumped the dashboard with his hand. "Stupid radio...the thing never works right."

The newscaster on the radio started talking, a barely noticeable hint of static still present in the background. "Back to today's top stories. A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the time table around the area. Traffic around Shibuya Station has be rerouted for the day, so drivers can expect jam-packed streets. This is said to be another in the string of strange incidents lately, involving people suddenly doing bizarre and dangerous actions, labeled 'mental shutdowns' by some."

Sojiro sighed in annoyance and complained, "Of course the traffics been rerouted, great. We'll be here forever at this rate."

Akira merely nodded and looked out the window, quietly thinking to himself. _Mental shutdowns, huh. Weird name for whatever is going on, but hopefully the police will figure it out eventually. Good thing it's not my problem._


	4. Chapter 4

Akira and Sojiro walked into Cafe Leblanc, Sojiro checking his watch as he did so. "Damn, it's way too late to open up the cafe for today..."

Akira turned to him and rubbed the back of his neck, quietly apologizing, "Sorry for the trouble."

"It's fine, one day won't put me out of business. You couldn't have predicted this anyway." Sojiro's brow creased in thought as he began to pat his pockets, quietly mumbling "Just where did I put it..."

Akira raised his eyebrow and watched as he found what he was looking for and held out a small, leather-bound notebook. "This is for you. I have to report on your activities once the year is up, so do me a favor and keep an up-to-date diary, alright?"

Akira nodded and smirked slightly, pocketing the notebook. "I'll be sure to write down every little detail I can, don't worry."

Sojiro scowled at him, asking "Can't you take anything seriously? Sheesh, just write down the important stuff. I don't have to hear about what you did for homework. Anyway, get to bed; it's late and you have school tomorrow."

Akira's face fell back to his passive mask and he nodded, turning to walk up the stairs. As he did so, Sojiro called out to him, "By the way, there should be some curry still in the pot. Sorry it's not fresh, but it's stayed warm, so it shouldn't kill you."

He paused while Sojiro explained, and then nodded and continued upstairs. Changing into sleepwear, he heard Sojiro walk out of the cafe. _It's weird having the place to my self, but at least he's not hounding me._

After eating the curry Sojiro had told him about and cleaning up, Akira laid on his bed, and thought about the day, as well as his first day of school. _Shujin seemed nice enough, and Kawakami-sensei at least wasn't hostile. Hopefully she'll eventually get that I'm not a horrible kid or anything, but whatever._

Akira sighed. _First day tomorrow, huh...for some reason I feel like this isn't going to go as well as I thought. Too late to worry about it now, I guess..._

He slowly nodded off to sleep, as mentally prepared for tomorrow as he thought he could be.

* * *

Akira woke up to his alarm, groaning slightly. _Damn, it's already time, huh._

He got out of bed and went through his morning routine, before heading into the more public part of Leblanc. Sojiro was already behind the counter, a plate of curry and a cup of coffee set in front of one of the chairs. He glanced up from his crossword at Akira, noting he was ready for the day. "You're up, good. I made you a plate of curry and coffee, so hurry and eat before you're late, alright?"

Akira raised his eyebrow, but sat and began to eat in silence. _This is actually really good, how is this place not more popular?_ Taking a sip of his coffee, he was shocked to find it was also delightful. _Damn, I don't think I've had someone cook me food this good since...well, ever, actually._

Noting the surprised look on his face, Sojiro smirked. "What, didn't think I could cook? I run a cafe kid, of course it's good. If you're living here, the least I can do is feed you, so I'll leave you a plate and a cup in the morning, and there should be enough left in the evening too, alright?"

Akira blinked at his unexpected kindness, before nodding and continuing to eat. _Maybe the gruff exterior really is an act, after all._

* * *

_Shitshitshit where am I going?! I think it was the Ginza line..._

Akira was lost. He'd made it to Shibuya Station, but he couldn't find where he was supposed to go next. Glancing around, he caught sight of what looked to be a Shujin student, a girl with a short brown hair and striking red eyes. Shrugging and keeping his head down, he followed her and caught sight of a sign the clearly read Ginza Line, just around the corner from where he had been standing.

 _Sheesh, glad I spotted her. Now I hopefully won't be late on my first day,_ Akira thought to himself with a sigh. Glancing up, he realized he has lost track of the girl, but shrugged and continued walking, boarding one of the train cars just as the doors closed. He quickly realized that what he had thought was a group of people all getting on at once - and therefore backing up the entrance - was actually just a sign of how packed the car was. _I mean it is Tokyo in the morning I guess, but this is definitely different from back home..._

Lost in his thoughts, Akira realized he had reached his stop quicker than he expected. Getting off, he began walking in the direction of the school - following the crowd of Shujin students, really - but it started raining, first lightly, then quickly growing in intensity. _Dammit, I should have brought my umbrella..._

He quickly ducked under the awning of a shop a little way in front of him. Another student joined him quickly, her long, blonde pigtails catching him off guard. She turned to him and tilted her head questioningly, and he realized he was staring. Shrugging, e pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the internet on his phone.

A silver car rolled up and the window closest to the two students rolled down, a man with a strikingly square jaw line appearing behind it. "Takamaki-Chan! Do you need a ride to school?" the man called out.

The girl sighed quietly before brightening up and calling out, "Sure! I'd love one!" and beginning to walk towards the car.

The man looked at Akira and frowned, before the girl climbed in the car. Rolling up the window, she grimaced at Akira, who stared back passively.

As the car rolled away, another student ran up to where the car had been stopped, yelling out "Ann! Dammit Kamoshida, leave her alone already..." Panting slightly, he turned to Akira, who glanced at his outfit.

The student had messy blonde hair, a Shujin blazer with a yellow shirt underneath, and the typical plaid pants, his suspenders hanging below his belt. _Great, he doesn't even follow the dress code...this is going to be trouble, isn't it..._

"Hey man, you got to Shujin? You got the uniform on, but I don't recognize ya," to which Akira merely nodded. "Cool, you must be that transfer student. C'mon, I'll show you the way to the school. Name's Sakamoto Ryuji, by the way."

Ryuji set off at a leisurely pace, hands in his pockets and slouched over. Akira merely sighed before following him.

Ryuji glanced over at him while they walked, and began talking to him. "So, you know Kamoshida yet?"

Akira shook his head, responding "No, but I'm guessing that was him back there?"

Ryuji grimaced and raised his voice, yelling "Yeah, that was him! That bastard acts like the whole school is his castle or some shit, it bugs me to no end..."

Akira noticed a slightly flash, and glanced around, looking for a camera, but shrugged as he couldn't see anything. "Hey, I know a shortcut, follow me!" Ryuji said as he sped up, ducking down an alleyway. 

Akira sighed and followed him, making sure he didn't fall behind.

* * *

Rounding the corned, Akira raised his eyebrows, and Ryuji's mouth dropped open as he gaped at the sight before them. "What the hell..."

In place of Shujin academy was a huge castle, with a gate easily twenty feet tall and huge glass windows on the front. In the distance was a massive tower, clawing towards the sky. The doors to the castle were decadently decorated, gold inlay combining with the intricate carving on the door to create a design that had no clear purpose, but was still extravagant. 

Akira turned to Ryuji, his mouth hardening to a thin line, and snapped at him, "This isn't funny you know, I'd like to get school on time."

Ryuji turned to him and scowled, angrily replying, "Hey, this is where the school should be, man! Maybe they decorated it or some shit, let's go check it out." He then proceeded to walk directly through the gate and towards the massive doors.

Akira sighed and followed him, deciding he couldn't get in more trouble than he already would be for being late. _Hey, maybe they actually did decorate the school._

Upon walking through the doors, Akira realized there was no way this was there school. The interior wasn't even laid out the same, ignoring the ridiculous amount of effort it would have taken to make the school look like this, even if it had. Ryuji, however, just looked around, confusion etched on his face. "Where the hell is everyone? This place should be packed right now..."

He continued to walk further in with Akira following him, a feeling of foreboding slowly growing in his mind. _Something is about to go very, very wrong..._

He felt a small pulse within his chest, but he wrote it off as his heart racing from the bizarre situation.

Ryuji caught sight of what looked like a cartoon-cutout of a medieval European knight. Running up to it, he called out "Hey, man, what's going on here? Where is everyone?"

The knight looked at him, a mask over where it's face would have been. There was nothing visible within the mask, just a black void. Ryuji flinched back at the look of the knight's face, but stood there expectantly.

"Intruders...King Kamoshida demands all intruders be imprisoned. Come quietly or face the consequences." It then rested its hand upon the hilt of its sword, a menacing red light appearing behind its mask.

"King Kamoshida? What the hell are you talking about? This is a joke, right?!" Ryuji cried, taking a step back. Hearing metal clacking against metal, Akira turned and saw a group of three of the knights approaching, chasing a small cat-like...thing.

"Uh, Ryuji? I hate to ruin the party, but I don't think this is Shujin," Akira called out, feeling another pulse in his chest. _What the hell is that..._

Ryuji turned and followed Akira's gaze, a look of confusion plastering his face. "What the hell, man?! This has to be a dream, right?!"

The cat-like thing ran into the entryway with Akira and Ryuji, a look of what Akira assumed to be shock and then panic on its face once it realized they were there. "What the hell are you doing in here?! This place is dangerous!" Called a boyish-sounding voice.

Akira grimaced and opened his mouth to reply, but Ryuji yelled out before he could. "Look, man, monster, whatever, I just wanted to go to school! I don't know what I'm doing here either!"

All of the entryway's occupants turned at the sound of more knights, this time walking down the stairs behind a familiar looking man in a ridiculous-looking cape covered in heart, wearing little else besides a crown, from what Akira could see.

"Sakamoto! So you've broken into my castle, I see. Even after last time you got in my way, you still haven't learned, have you?!" The man grinned maniacally. "Very well, if you can't learn your lesson, then you're better off dead! Guards, grab him, along with the boring looking one and that monster cat!"

The monster cat's eyes widened and it yelled out in rage, "I am **not** a cat! I am Morgana!"

Akira shook his head and glanced at Ryuji, who was being held by the knight he had turned his back to. Morgana was knocked to the ground by an unexpected kick from one of the knights following him. The other knights ran at Akira, who merely held out his arms and was roughly grabbed and held between two guards.

Morgana looked at him in shock as the knight that had kicked him reached down and grabbed him by his bulbous head. Ryuji merely groaned as the knight holding him threw him to the ground and placed its boot on the square of his back.

The King walked forward until he was close enough to be recognized, and Ryuji called out in shock, "Kamoshida?! What the hell are you wearing?!"

King Kamoshida merely let out an arrogant laugh and smirked, staring at Ryuji.

"You see, Sakamoto, this is my castle. I do what I want, and I decide what happens here. Since you apparently can't learn your place here, I guess I get the delight of beheading you myself."

Akira stared on with a passive look on his face, but was internally enrage. _Who the hell does this guy think he is?! No one can just treat people like this!_

Another pulse occurred within Akira's chest, this one slightly painful, and he jerked. _What the **hell** was that?!_

King Kamoshida walked towards Ryuji, given a sword by one his guards when he held out his hand. He stared down at Ryuji's prone form, while Ryuji looked back at him in fear. "Well, well, well, you're still just as pathetic as you've always been. It's a shame, it would have been so much more fun for you to be struggling. Maybe the other one will be more exciting, once I'm done with you."

Ryuji's eyes snapped open and he stared at Akira and began yelling, "Go! Get out of here, man. Shake those two off and go!"

King Kamoshida turned to Akira and smirked, taunting him, "Well, are you going to run? Or will you watch as your friend dies?"

Akira's passive mask began to slip and the rage began to show on his face. He felt an intensely painful pulse within his chest, and fell forward slightly, largely held up by the knights arms.

_**Well, was your previous choice a mistake back then?** _

Akira's eyes shot open and he began struggling against the knights holding him. Morgana stared at him in confusion, and King Kamoshida shook his head and turned back to Ryuji with a grin.

_**Will you watch as this injustice occurs in front of you?** _

Akira began to shake his head violently and fought more intensely against the knights as King Kamoshida rose the sword above his head.

**_Thou who would commit any act for thine own justice. Thou who pursues justice in spite of being chained to hell._ **

The pulse that was previously in his chest suddenly occurred within his head, causing him to flail about in pain

_**Do you desire the power to end this tyranny, at risk of your own soul?** _

Akira suddenly stopped struggling and nodded his head, grinning maniacally, the rage ever-present in his eyes.

_**Very well, let us forge a contract. I, am thou...thou, art I.** _

In a flash of blue fire, a black and white mask, similar to one worn in a masquerade appeared upon Akira's face. His eyes became yellow and the rage in his eyes amplified. In a sudden show of immense strength, Akira ripped his arm out of the knights' grasp and the two flew to the ground. King Kamoshida paused and turned to look at Akira, a look of fear and confusion on his face.

_**Now, tear off the mask, and show this world the rage within your soul!** _

Akira grabbed hold of his mask, and with a pained cry and a gush of blood, a massive vortex of blue fire swirling around him and blowing away the knights on the ground, as well as those standing over Morgana and Ryuji. The knights flew into the wall and disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Morgana stood and cried out in relief.

Behind Akira, a face formed of hellfire appeared, with a pointed grin full of malice and rage. The face then grew into a terrifying demon, the hellfire expanding to become the suit of a Victorian-era nobleman, a blood red overcoat and slacks contrasting the black vest and top hat the demon wore. A black mask appeared behind the demon's face, adding a sharp edge to the menacing grin. The demon's arms ended in massive claws, long and devilishly sharp. As the demon's legs manifested, heeled boots appeared, with massive blades affixed in place of true heels. All around the demon were great metal chains, forcefully holding it back, its wings struggling against them.

A wave of blue flame rolled over Akira's body, though he felt no heat. In a transformation that ran from head to toe, he was suddenly clothed in a black greatcoat, its coattails billowing in an unseen wind. Beneath was a vest with gold buttons, and a pair of tight black slacks completed the ensemble. With a flash of red, his hands were suddenly covered in blood red gloves, and as his hair was swept out of his eyes by the wind, his eyes were the same color, full of endless rage.

The knights who had fallen back when King Kamoshida came rushing forward, and the gust of wind blew him back, the sword flying out of his hands. Morgana jumped up and ran over to Akira, gazing in amazement, and cried out, "You're a persona user?!"

Akira didn't even glance at him, choosing instead to stalk towards King Kamoshida, the rage never leaving his eyes. A dagger appeared in his hands as he stalked towards the King, and he scrambled backwards until his back hit a wall.

King Kamoshida looked around wildly in fear, before crying out, " **GUARDS! DEFEND ME!** "

The knights quickly charged at Akira, who turned to them and grinned wickedly as they fell back and split, revealing two small, grinning demons and a large, purple horse, with two massive horns atop its head.

"Use your persona and fight them off!" cried Morgana, as he charged forward, a scimitar appearing in hand. Akira felt in his soul how to do so, and pointed at the group, and cried out savagely.

"Arsene, ravage them!" The grin of the demon behind him widened, before it flung its arms and wings out wide, and a field of spikes of demonic energy appeared around their foes. Slamming through them with ease, they left the small demons looking near death, and the large horse seeming far worse than it previously was.

Just as the spikes dissipated, Morgana leaped forward with his scimitar, and cried out as he slashed through the neck of the horse in one clean slice. A burst of black, tar-like ichor burst forth and the horse dissipated into the same black smoke as the knights had earlier. Morgana then bounded back out of reach as the demons slashed forward at him, barely missing his agile form.

Morgana turned to Akira as the demon behind him dissipated and his mask reformed on his face, his eyes regaining their standard grey color and his face returning to its passive mask. Morgana called to him, "Switch me, you run in this time!"

Akira deftly nodded and took off at a full sprint, the dagger in his hand feeling like an extension of his body. Morgana cried out "Come to me, Zorro!" and a masked outlaw appeared behind him, a great rapier in hand. He then pointed towards the demon furthest from Akira and yelled "Garu!" before the outlaw slashed his rapier in a z formation and a whirlwind of green and gray smoke appeared around the demon, numerous cuts appearing and dripping the same black ichor as the horse, before it too dissipated into black smoke.

Akira leaped forward as he reached the other demon and dodged between its slashing claws, jamming his dagger directly into its chest. Pulling it out as he tackled it to the ground, he began slashing at the face of the thing, until it too dissipated into black smoke.

Ryuji, meanwhile, had been staring with a mixture of shock, fear, and awe on his face. Glancing around, he cried out, "Dammit, that bastard Kamoshida ran off!"

Akira stood up and looked at him, his gloved hand catching him off guard as he stared at his outfit in confusion. "What the hell is this?"

Morgana sighed in annoyance and told him, "It's how you picture a rebel, it's for your protection. More importantly, why didn't you summon your persona sooner?!"

Akira and Ryuji both stared at him in confusion, to which he replied in annoyance, "What, do you have any idea what just happened?!"

The two shared a look and then, in perfect harmony, said, "Nope, not a clue what just happened." 

Morgana merely shook his head, then stared behind them in shock as another group of guards could be heard in the distance.

"Well that doesn't matter right now, what matters is that we get out of here, so come on!" he cried as he ran across the entryway, through the doorway opposite from where he had entered earlier.

Akira and Ryuji both followed him as he ran down the hallway and dived through an open door, slamming it shut behind them. "Look, no time to explain, but you guys need to get out of here. Like I said earlier, this place is dangerous, and you could get killed, as you've just seen."

Akira merely nodded at him with his signature passive look on his face, but internally, he was reeling, mind flying a thousand miles a minute.

_WhatthehellisgoingonwheredidthatdemonthingcomefromwhydiditfeelrightwhatthefuckfuCKFUCKFUCKdoesallthismean?!_

Ryuji stomped his foot on the ground and yelled, "Nah, you're going to explain right now what the hell all this is about! Why are we in a castle? Why the hell is fuckin' Kamoshida king?!"

Morgana sighed before looking at Ryuji in annoyance.

"Basically, this is how Kamoshida sees the world. He's the kind because he believes he's the king of whatever this place is in the real world, and thinks he can do whatever he wants," he explained quickly, before jumping on top of a nearby bookcase.

"Hold up, what? This is how Kamoshida sees the world?! This was supposed to be our school!" Ryuji yelled in annoyance, while Akira quietly glanced at the door.

"Ryuji, quiet it down, those guards are probably looking for us," Akira scolded quietly.

"He's right, you know. And yes, his is how Kamoshida sees the world, meaning he thinks the school is his castle, where he can do anything he wants within," said Morgana, while he fiddled with one of the windows above the bookcase.

Ryuji seemed to think this over for a second, before anger contorted his face. "That bastard! The school isn't a castle, and he sure as hell isn't a king!"

Morgana shushed him before the window popped loudly and swung open. "Yes! Got it. Now then, you two need to climb through here and get out of here before those guards come this way."

Akira saw Ryuji open his mouth, and quickly said, "The cat's right, let's just leave before we get caught again."

Ryuji grunted and nodded begrudgingly, but Morgana yelled, "I am NOT a cat! I'm a human, this place just messed up what I look like!"

The three of them froze as they heard a guard shout "Hey, I heard something this way!"

Morgana then jumped down and ran to the door, putting his ear against it, and told the other two, "Look, I'd love to chat, but if those guards are coming, you need to leave. I'll manage here, just go."

Akira shrugged and began climbing up the bookcase, Ryuji quickly following him with significantly more swearing and grunting involved.

"Look, if you two really want to know what this place is, find your way back here. I'll meet you out front, so don't worry about finding me," Morgana called over his shoulder as the two climbed through the window. Akira nodded and jumped down, followed by Ryuji. Morgana dashed over and closed the window, leaving it slightly propped open. "Those two could be useful to my plans..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! This chapter took a lot longer than the other three have so far, and I'm pretty happy with my description of Akira's awakening. Let me know what you think, as always, comments, concerns, memes, etc. are all appreciated :)


	5. Chapter 5

Akira and Ryuji both ran through the gates and back the way they came, before a strange sensation came over the two in the middle of an alleyway. The two bent over to catch their breath, and Akira glanced at their surroundings.

"I think we're back to reality," Akira panted.

After catching his breath and leaning against the wall, Ryuji looked at him in confusion. "What'd you mean, back to reality?"

Akira sighed as he stood up, and explained, "You heard Morgana. That was how Kamoshida saw reality, right?" Ryuji nodded his head, still visibly confused. "Well if that was how he saw reality, that must mean it's not reality, right?"

Ryuji's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh. That...actually makes a lot of sense, now that you say it like that." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I'm not really the brightest crayon in the shed."

Akira stared at him for a second, before responding, "...right. Anyway, we should get to class, we're probably super late by now."

Ryuji nodded and began walking in the direction of the school, Akira just behind him.

* * *

Kamoshida stood in front of the school with another middle-aged teacher, chatting noisily. As Akira and Ryuji walked up, Kamoshida caught them out of the corner of his eye and turned to star at them disapprovingly.

Ryuji mumbled under his breath, "Dammit, this isn't going to go well."

Kamoshida and the other teacher crossed their arms. Kamoshida called out at the two students, "Well, well, well, look what we have here. Sakamoto and Kurusu, the school delinquent and the transfer student with a record. Care to explain why you're late?"

Akira thought about trying to come up with an excuse, but figured Kamoshida was being rhetorical. Frowning, he began walking forward, while Ryuji stood still.

Kamoshida stared down the blonde for a moment, before turning to Akira once he was a short distance away.

Kamoshida threateningly barked at him, "Look, Kurusu, I don't care how great you think you are, you are on thin. Ice. You will be expelled if this happens again, got it?"

Akira froze and stared at him from behind his glasses, before curtly nodding and continuing to walk past the teachers. As he walked through the door, he heard Ryuji noisily arguing with the teachers.

* * *

Kawakami sighed at her desk, setting her work to the side. "Where is that kid...It's already lunch time, and it's the first day..."

Just then a knock sounded at the door, and Akira's face appeared as the door slid open. He grimaced slightly at the look on her face, and quietly apologized, "Sorry I'm so late..."

Kawakami crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow, questioning, "And would you deign to tell my just why you're so late?"

Akira rubbed the back of his neck and responded, "Well...I got...really, really lost..." _I mean it's not a lie_ , he thought to himself.

Kawakami just shook her head. "Whatever, at least you showed up. It's lunch right now, so go eat, then meet me back here when the bell rings and I'll introduce you to the class."

Akira nodded, and closed the door as he walked away. As he aimlessly wandered the school looking for the cafeteria, he paused, something bothering him in the back of his mind. _Wait a minute...can I even get lunch from the cafeteria?_

His eyes widened in shock as he realized Sojiro had never mentioned paying for his lunch, and he certainly hadn't done so himself. _Guess I'll just skip lunch for today, I can figure this out tomorrow..._

Just then the bell rang and he turned around and walked back to the staff room. Kawakami was still at her desk and looked up when he opened the door. "Alright, come on, it's time for you to meet the class."

Akira followed her as she walked around the corner a short distance, before ducking into one of the classrooms. As Akira walked in he saw the field of students, most either talking to each other or studying. IN the far corner, he recognized the girl who had gotten in Kamoshida's car this morning.

Kawakami cleared her throat and clapped her hands, the students all turning to look at her at once. "This is the new transfer student, Kurusu Akira. He came late today because he was...feeling sick this morning." She tapped her finger on her chin in thought, before continuing, "Kurusu, you'll sit in the corner back there, where the empty desk is. Some of the people around him, share your books for today, and I'll make sure he has some by tomorrow."

Akira briefly looked at his new classmates who stared at him expectantly, before he quietly bowed slightly and walked to his seat. He heard some of his classmates gossiping about him as he walked.

"He seems really quiet, but I bet if you make him angry..."

"You're right, he was arrested for assault..."

The girl in front of him watched him with an angry look on her face. _She seems familiar,_ he thought to himself.

"All lies," The girl spat angrily. Akira stopped and raised his eyebrow. _Oh! She's the girl from this morning, with Kamoshida._

"What'd you say?" He quietly mumbled. The girl merely scowled and looked forward, pointedly ignoring him. Akira shrugged and walked to his seat.

"Did you see that? Do they know each other?!" One girl gossiped loudly.

"No way...does that mean he's been hitting on her or something? That means Takamaki-san has been cheating on Kamoshida-sensei!"

"Well, I mean, it IS Takamaki-san..."

_This school is going to be just like my old one, isn't it..._

* * *

As the final bell rang, Akira felt relief at finally being able to go home and rest. _Whatever that was in that castle earlier, I'm exhausted now._

He quickly swept what few school supplies he had into his bag and stood up, leaving the room behind a small group of students. As he began to walk down the hallway, he saw a brief flicker of the castle decor from earlier in the day, then felt a wave of nausea roll over him as reality snapped back into place. _Well, that was...disorienting..._ he thought to himself.

Kawakami noticed Akira put his hand to his forehead and waver slightly, and walked over to him with an appraising look on her face. "Hm? What's wrong?"

Akira shook his head for a second before turning to her. "Nothing, just a little tired, it's been a long day."

Kawakami's lips twitched in a ghost of a smile, before nodding slightly. "I understand, it is your first day, after all." She frowned slightly, before continuing, "By the way, you should head home pretty quickly. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry. Oh, and I heard you were seen with Sakamoto-kun; Don't get involv-"

The remaining words died on her lips as Ryuji walked up, a slight grimace on his face.

Kawakami sighed. "Speak of the devil. What do you want? I heard you were caught cutting classes today."

Ryuji slouched lower than normal and stared at the floor, replying,"Ugh...It was nothin'."

Kawakami shook her head. "I see you also haven't dyed your hair back to black. I won't remind you again."

Ryuji nodded, and replied, "Yeah...Sorry about that." He walked over to Akira and mumbled in his ear, "I'll be waiting on the roof," before walking off in the direction he came from.

Kawakami's frown deepened slightly. "Anyway, get home quick, and avoid Sakamoto." She turned to walk back into the classroom, before turning back slightly and telling Akira, "Oh, and I wasn't the one that started those rumors about you. I can't do anything to stop them, but I didn't start them, either."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long break, real life got complex. Should be back and updating frequently again for the foreseeable future, things have settled down. I'm going to try to be more consistent about posting stuff from now on, both for this story and in general, to keep up the habit and so I don't burn myself out. I can probably get a chapter for this every 2-3 days right now, so I'll try to keep to that.
> 
> As always, comments/concerns/whatever are appreciated, but never expected. Stay safe, the world is a scary place right now.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryuji sat and watched the birds sitting around the roof of the school. Why there was a bunch of desks and chairs on the roof of all places was anyone's guess, but they were useful enough to hang out.

He checked his phone for the time and frowned. _It's already been ten minutes, what's taking so long?_

Just then he heard the door to the roof creak open and saw Akira glance around, before walking toward Ryuji.

"There you are," Ryuji called to Akira. "Took you long enough. Sorry for callin' you out like this, I just..."

Akira's eyebrow shot up, his eyes all but hidden behind the glare on his glasses. "I've been thinking about this morning. You remember the castle, right?" _Tell me I'm not crazy..._

Akira nodded, relaxing from a tenseness Ryuji hadn't realized was there. "Believe me, I remember it quite well," Akira replied as a strange look flashed on his face briefly.

Ryuji smiled. "Thank god, I thought I had lost my mind. Thanks for saving me from Kamoshida, by the way. I...probably would have died, honestly." Ryuji sighed, before continuing, "I've been thinking, and I can't not go back now. You might not have heard, but the Kamoshida we saw in there...it was exactly like some of the rumors that have been going around for a while." _I don't really have any idea how we get back there, though..._

Akira leaned against one of the desks nearby, before nodding. "I couldn't just let you get killed, don't worry about it." He frowned slightly, "The rumors, though...I haven't heard anything, everyone's too busy talking about me, and those that aren't, won't come near me." 

Ryuji nodded, thinking for a moment. "Well, you haven't heard anything, and I doubt anyone will tell me a damn thing...want to try and go back there tomorrow? We'll wait until after school, and then we can take as long as we want poking around and checking things out."

Akira paused, seeming to weigh his options in his head for a moment, before nodding. "Alright, deal. I can't promise anything will come of it, but if Kamoshida is as bad as he seemed..."

Ryuji smiled. _Thank god he agreed...I doubt I'd be able to do anything on my own..._

"Don't worry about whether we find out anything interesting, leave that part to me. You just show up, and then we'll have to see how things go. You know...now that I think about it, we seem pretty similar."

Akira's eyebrow shot up again, and he asked, "How do you mean?"

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. _I didn't think he'd actually ask..._

"Well, you know...we're both kinda outcasts, you because of your record or whatever, and me because of, well...a long story. You seem pretty against just letting things happen if you don't agree with you, I'd like to at least hope I'd do something if I could...you know what I mean?"

Akira nodded, staring out at the city around them. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Thanks for the support, Ryuji. I'd love to stay and chat, but...today was exhausting. I should get heading home."

Ryuji stood up, a slightly mischievous smile on his face. "Alright man, take it easy, we wouldn't want you gettin' sick. I'll seeya around. I think we're gonna get along just fine being 'troublemakers."

He walked off, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Akira sighed as he stood outside of Leblanc. _I'm sure Sojiro will be happy about me 'cutting class'._

He reached for the handle and turned it confidently, walking in as if nothing was wrong. Sojiro looked up from behind his newspaper, a scowl on his face. _He was definitely waiting for me._

Akira nodded to him and began to make for his room, but Sojiro stopped him, calling "So I got a particularly interesting call from your school earlier. It's your first day and you think you can show up half way through?"

Akira merely blinked, and replied, "I got really lost, I'm new to the city. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

Sojiro fidgeted with his glasses, eyeing Akira suspiciously. "Sure, and I own Big Bang Burger." He sighed, before continuing, "Look, just don't do it again, alright? Your future is practically forfeit as it is, you know. I know you're smart enough to understand what probation means, so don't go messing around."

Akira merely nodded, Sojiro's phone ringing loudly in the empty cafe as he did so. Sojiro flipped open his phone and a slight smile came to his face as he looked at who was calling him.

"What's up? Yeah, I just closed up, I'll be there in half an hour. Hold on a sec." He focused back onto Akira with a frown. "What're you just standing there for? Go do your homework or something, sheesh. Don't forget to lock up for the night."

Akira nodded and walked upstairs, setting his bag on his table as he went. _I don't know what everything that happened today means, but I am exhausted. I'm just going to go to sleep...not like I have any homework on the first day anyway..._

He quickly went through his nightly routine and went to bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Falling. The sounds of chains jangling. Weirdly familiar piano music.

Akira gasped as he awoke, recognizing the cold blue light and bare walls as his cell. _Great, back to the goblin and demon children..._

He sighed as he sat up, glancing over at the small wardens. Caroline noticed his awakening first, and turned toward him. "Inmate. It is good to see that you have awoken." Justine turned with her characteristic malicious smile, slamming her baton against the cell bars. "It's about time you woke up! Now get over here and listen to what our master has to say."

Akira shuffled to the front of his cell, grasping the bars to keep himself balanced upright. Igor's deep voice called out from the center of the room, far more balanced than last time he was here, though the malevolent look in his eyes was still present. "First, we must celebrate our reunion. There was no guarantee that it would occur this way." Igor paused for a moment, then his grotesquely large smile widened further as he stared at Akira. "I see you've awakened to the power of Persona, and a special other power as well. It seems we can finally begin your rehabilitation."

Akira's face quirked at the word rehabilitation, piquing his curiosity. "What do you mean, rehabilitation?"

Igor only tilted his head slightly, as though he were observing some piece of art, before replying, "There is no need for you to understand for the time being. You will be training the powers you awoke to today, that of Persona; best described as a, mask, of sorts - an armor of the soul when confronting worldly matters. Know that I have high expectations of you in this regard, Wild Card."

Akira frowned at the strange term, seemingly directed at himself. "I'm not worried about you expectations. What do you mean by Wild Card?"

Caroline flinched at the apparent disrespect towards Igor, who merely chuckled and laced his fingers together before himself. "Worry not, you will understand in time. It would be improper of me to spoil the surprise, after all. Now then, how have you been enjoying the Metaverse Navigator? It is what allowed you to travel to a Palace and awaken your Persona, after all."

Akira tilted his head in confusion. "I've never heard of a Metaverse Navigator."

Amusement filled Igor's twisted face, and he leaned back in his chair, as he continued, "I bestowed it upon you in order to enable your training as a thief. To have used it without realizing, now that is a talent I have not seen before. You continue to interest me, Trickster. To use the Metaverse Navigator alone would be an immense burden...as such, I shall bestow it upon those who will be of value to your training in the Metaverse."

Caroline and Justine turned to Akira then, Justine disinterestedly staring at her clipboard, while Caroline smiled with her baton in her hands. Without looking up, Justine instructed Akira, "The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master. Use it wisely, Inmate." Caroline tapped her baton in her hand as her sister talked, before immediately continuing, "Devote yourself to your training and rehabilitation, Inmate. The consequences for failure to do so will be dire."

A loud bell rang, similar to a mix between a prison alarm and an alarm clock. Justine finally looked up at Akira. "Go now, Inmate. Get what rest you may find, and work tirelessly towards your rehabilitation."

Akira internally sighed, accepting this strange place as part of his life. _If only I could verbally capitalize things, that would be useful, I suppose. Igor the Goblin seems ready to kill me though, maybe I should focus on that more..._

Akira felt the strange falling feeling, and the piano music faded away, as his consciousness followed suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter chapter today, but the next one is going to be Ryuji's awakening, so that should more than make up for it.
> 
> Comments, criticisms, etc, you probably get the idea by now.


	7. Chapter 7

Akira practically floated through the day, focused on the plans him and Ryuji had made the day before. Classes passed and he made his way towards the front of the school at the end of the day.

Ryuji was already waiting for him when he got to the gate and looked up from his phone when Akira walked up to him. "Oh hey! Ready to go exploring?"

Akira nodded, then looked at Ryuji with a frown on his face. "Hey, Ryuji. How exactly did we get to that castle yesterday?"

Ryuji looked at him in confusion and replied, "Well we just walked to school like I do everyday..." He trailed off, then frowned himself. "Wait, you're right. I walk that way _every single day_ and that's definitely never happened before." He shrugged, then continued, "Well, let's just see if retracing our steps takes us there and then we'll figure it out when we get there. Sound good?"

Akira merely shrugged and followed Ryuji as the blond began walking towards the train station. _It's probably no worse than just standing around at the gate, at least._

* * *

Akira and Ryuji looked at each other, then at Shujin, then back at each other. "Y'know, this really doesn't look like a castle." Akira commented.

"Right, this is just the prison we go to every day. Let me think for a second." Ryuji frowned in thought. Akira shuddered. _Reminds me of the Velvet Room._

Ryuji snapped and pointed at Akira. "Hey! Didn't you have some kind of navigation app open yesterday?"

Akira frowned. "I don't think so, no. I was just following you." Akira pulled out his phone, scrolling through his apps.

"No way dude, I heard it say 'Beginning navigation' as soon as we started walking." Ryuji looked over Akira's shoulder as he scrolled through the apps on his phone, before pointing at one that was frustratingly familiar to Akira. "Hey, what's that?"

Akira stared at it for a moment. "I thought I deleted this. It's been randomly showing up on my phone for a few days." Ryuji reached over and tapped the icon before Akira could stop hi,, and opened up a street map.

"Ha, see? I told you it was a navigation app! Look, it's even got the castle or whatever from yesterday in the search history!" Sure enough, Akira could clearly see the words "Kamoshida's Palace: Shujin Academy, Castle" right below a search bar.

He shrugged and looked at Ryuji. "Ready to go explore a castle again?"

Ryuji grinned and nodded. "As long as no one's threatened with death this time, I'm game!" Akira tapped Kamoshida's Palace and the world faded into black and red static.

* * *

Akira and Ryuji both wobbled on their feet slightly as the world they had known was replaced with the castle from the previous day's events. Taking a slightly longer look around this time, Akira realized how strange their surroundings actually were. A blood red sky, thick black fog that seemed to avoid touching the castle itself, and the almost comically large itself castle before them. "You know, it's strange we didn't notice anything before we got here."

Ryuji, meanwhile, hadn't heard a word he said and was staring at Akira. Noticing the blonde's attention, Akira faced him, a questioning eyebrow shooting up beneath his mask. _Wait, mask?_

"Dude! You're back in that costume from yesterday, you've got the mask and everything!" Ryuji pointed to his face and Akira glanced down at his hands, noticing familiar red gloves. He reached up to his face and, sure enough, the mask from before was there as well. _Huh. Isn't this fun._

Akira smirked as he asked Ryuji, "Cool, right? You jelly?"

Ryuji just stared at him before shaking his head and turning away, throwing over his shoulder "Nah, man, you look like something out of a heist movie, why would I be jealous of that?" 

Akira's smirk deepened. _He's totally jealous._

The two made their way to the large doors in front of them, and as Ryuji reached for the handle, Akira grabbed his wrist. "I'd say after yesterday they'd be guarding the doors, wouldn't you?"

Ryuji frowned and nodded, pulling his hand back to his side before looking around. "Well how else are we going to get inside then?"

Akira merely shrugged and walked beneath one of the windows, Ryuji following close behind. "You think Morgana left the window open for us?"

"Morgana? Wha-Oh! The cat! Right. I mean, it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Ryuji squinted up towards the high windows, then pointed at one further down. "That one looks like it's being held open, let's try it."

The pair walked below the window and Akira tilted his head slightly. "Think one of us can make the jump up there?"

Ryuji paused for a moment, then nodded. "I can probably do it with a running start, or we can boost one of us up."

Akira felt a subtle pulse radiate from his chest to his limbs just then, and he suddenly felt far stronger and agile than he had before. "Hey, let me try something..." He trailed off, before crouching slightly. _Here goes nothing, I guess._

In a flash of red and black static similar to from when they 'arrived' at the castle, Akira suddenly sprung upward towards the window and casually flicked it open as he pulled himself into the windowsill. Ryuji stared at him in shock, mouth agape at the impressive feat Akira had just accomplished. "Dude! That was, like, six or seven feet! Since when are you so athletic?!"

Akira smirked down at him from his perch. "Perks of having being possessed I guess, I definitely couldn't do that before now. C'mon, I'll help you up and then we can get to investigating." He reached a hand down for Ryuji to grab as Ryuji backed away a few steps, then took a running leap up the wall and latched onto his hand. Akira pulled him up with relative ease, and they both dropped down into the room they had escaped from the previous day.

The two glanced around the room and saw the bookshelves they'd climbed the day before, along with a table and chairs in the middle of the room. A large, extravagant red carpet led under the door to the room, which was slightly propped open. There were no torches on the stone walls but the room was lit nonetheless, the unseen light source far from the strangest thing they'd seen.

Ryuji cracked his knuckles and walked towards the door, peering through the crack and looking down the hall outside. "I don't see anymore of those weird knights, want to see what we can find out here?"

Akira nodded. "Sure, let's hope we run into Morgana before we get into trouble this time." He then slipped out the door silently, as though he had been sneaking around all his life. Ryuji followed him somewhat more loudly, the carpet only partially muffling his footsteps.

The pair glanced towards the direction they had come from yesterday, but neither one wanted to go through the most wide open room they'd seen thus far. Sharing a look with Ryuji, Akira confidently walked up to the door across the hall from the room they had just left and walked through.

On the other side, the two found themselves in some kind of kitchen that looked distinctly unused. There were ingredients scattered around on counters and in barrels, but it all looked plastic and fake. The knife stuck in a cutting board was dusty with misuse, the jarringly modern sink similarly covered in dust.

"God, this place is creepy." Ryuji shuddered as he spoke, looking around the room.

"We're in some sort of mind castle and I'm possessed by a ghost. I think 'creepy' has become the new normal." Akira nonchalantly strode forward, his hands in his pockets and total confidence in his stance as he walked through the plastic kitchen. "Come on, who knows what we might find?"

The sound of something being shuffled around made the two freeze and turn towards a door they hadn't noticed before. Stuck in the corner, it was smaller than the doors they had walked through to get into the kitchen, forgettable and dull.

"Ryuji, hide!" Akira hissed as he jumped behind a pile of fruit. Ryuji scrambled to get behind a cabinet as the door opened slowly, the darkness on the other side ominous.

* * *

_Man, I love tuna! Wonder why they had so much in this pantry though..._

Morgana sighed to himself as he leaned back from the mound of fish he had been eating from, smiling contentedly at the feast he had found. "Good thing those stupid Shadows never bother to look in the side rooms like this," he mumbled to himself quietly.

He leaned forward to continue eating the fish before him as he heard noises from the other side of the door. _Oh, come on! I had to jinx it, didn't I?!_

He sighed and stepped away from the fish and into the darkness of the corner, listening intently. Footsteps, quieter than usual, and two voices. Human voices, not the distorted growl of shadows.

"No way..." he said to himself, before walking over and slowly opening the door to the pantry.

* * *

Akira and Ryuji looked at each other with wide eyes as seemingly nothing left the suddenly open door.

" _What do you think it could be?"_ Akira whispered over to Ryuji.

" _I don't know! Maybe another ghost or something?!"_ Ryuji hissed back, fear clear on his face.

The two stayed in their places, sharing a look of confusion as seemingly nothing happened.

Suddenly, a boyish voice spoke from just out of sight of the two. "You know, you guys suck at sneaking around."

Ryuji jumped in the air and let out a choked scream, try and failing to stop himself. Akira, meanwhile, jerked at the sudden noise, then stood and looked at Morgana in annoyance, a smirk plastered on the cat's face.

Morgana's smirk quickly fell away to laughter as Ryuji's reaction registered. "Oh my god, Ryuji! I thought you were some kind of tough guy!"

Ryuji, realizing he was not, in fact, being attacked by a seven foot tall knight, turned to look at Morgana and glared. "Yeah, well I don't go around scaring people in weird ghost castles, either!"

Morgana's rather large eyes rolled, and he responded, "First, this place has nothing to do with ghosts. Second, why are you guys here?"

Akira and Ryuji shared a look. Why were they here, really? it has seemed like a great idea to go exploring, but they'd nearly died last time.

Ryuji turned to Morgana with a frown. "I dunno, but if it's got something to do with Kamoshida, I wanna know about it." He turned back to Akira, who nodded at him.

"Ryuji's right. We don't really know anything about this place, but it seems important. Also, if I'm going to be possessed by a ghost, I'd like to know about it." Akira tapped his mask to emphasize his point.

Morgana shook his head. "Again, not a ghost, at least not exactly. But you guys nearly died yesterday. You've either got to be a lot more careful or give up coming in here. Although..." He squinted his eyes at Akira.

"What, something on my face?" Akira said, a crooked smile appearing on his face. "Besides my mask, that is."

Morgana groaned at the joke, then continued. "No, not really, but you and your persona could be useful. Though if you're going to be useful I might as well try and explain this to you." Frowning, he turned to Ryuji. "You too, Blondie, since you keep showing up with this guy."

"Awesome! Finally, some answers. Oh, and we have names, you know." Ryuji pointed to himself, "Ryuji," then Akira, "Akira. Got it?"

Morgana nodded, a smug smile coming to his face. "Whatever you say, _Blondie._ Now come on, we should be safe in here." The cat then turned and walked back into the pantry he had just left. Shrugging at Ryuji, Akira followed him in, the blonde right behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so not as much happened in this chapter as I wanted but I don't think I'll get this one out today if I did squeeze it all in, and it would be a rushed mess. So Ryuji might not awaken for another chapter or so, but it will be soon.
> 
> Also, to try and not burn myself out (as happened when I first started posting and writing a chapter a day) and not fall into the habit of avoiding writing (which is the main cause for my latest month+ long break), I'm going to do my very best to stick to releasing a chapter every Friday. That day might change in the next month or so as college starts up and I find a rhythm, but one chapter a week is my goal. Who knows, if I build up a backlog I might go to two a week after a while.
> 
> So, anyway, thoughts, comments, criticisms? I don't exactly have a proofreader (besides myself) and I'm not really the best at picking up when things don't make sense. This chapter especially probably doesn't flow very well, so let me know if anything stands out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to skip Morgana dumping exposition on everyone about how Metaverse stuff works because it's boring and if you don't know it already, what are you doing here?

“So that’s the gist of things. Any questions?” Morgana asked, having spent the last several minutes talking through the Metaverse, Personas, Shadows, and Palaces. The small cupboard they had hid in had kept them hidden while they talked.

“Yeah, I got one. Why’d you look like a cat?” Ryuji asked, tilting his head in confusion. Morgana had, conveniently, mentioned nothing about his appearance in particular.

Morgana crossed his arms and scowled. “I am NOT a cat! I’m a human that lost their original form! I lost my memories, too.”

“Wait, you have amnesia? How do you know all this stuff then?” Akira questioned, a frown crossing his face.

“I don’t know! It’s just something I _know_ , like I forgot learning it but not what I learned. My best guess is I fell into some strong distortion at some point.” Morgana shrugged. “All I can remember is wandering through palaces for about the past month or so.”

“Wait, a month?!” Ryuji exclaimed in shock. “You should have starved to death or something by now! How are you even alive?!”

Morgana smirked at him, and put his hands on his hips. “I left it out earlier because it shouldn’t really come up often, but things like food and water just aren’t important in the Metaverse. I’m sure if I had left into reality often enough I’d be pretty hungry, but since I’ve stayed here, I’m fine.” 

Ryuji and Akira nodded. “I guess that makes some sense, it’s hardly the weirdest thing about this place,” Ryuji said.

“Are you actually understanding all of this?” Akira asked, a single eyebrow raised as he looked at the blonde.

“No way dude, none of this makes any friggin’ sense. You and Morgana are apparently anime characters with spirit friends or somethin’ and I don’t even have words for this place. It’s not like whether I understand it or not matters, it’s still happening.”

Morgana and Akira stared at Ryuji, a look of shock on Morgana’s face, Akira’s returning to a passive mask. “What’re you lookin’ at me for?” Ryuji asked, looking away from the two.

“I mean you kinda seemed like some dumb oaf who wouldn’t admit if he didn’t understands, I guess I’m just a little shocked…” Morgana said, a hint of respect tinging his voice.

“Oh can it catboy, I’m not the brightest but I know when I’m in over my head. Besides, you’d better be glad there aren’t any girls around, I always say dumb stuff to impress them.” Ryuji let out a self-deprecating laugh and turned to Akira. “Anyway...weren’t we going to explore this place? I mean it’s been fun learning about this stuff but I still want to look around.” Akira nodded and turned to open the door to the cupboard.

“Why on Earth do you _still_ want to look around so bad?! I just told you all about how you could die, or worse!” Morgana cried.

Akira shrugged without turning. “I’m getting a weird vibe from this place, I just feel like I need to see something in here. Not sure about Ryuji though.”

“Honestly? If this is Kamoshida’s Palace, I want to do something about it.” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck, anger flaring in his voice as he spoke. “That bastard broke my leg and I’m pretty sure he’s abusin’ the track team, and then he’s been acting all pervy and shit around a lot of the girls. I don’t care if I got a Persona or not, I want to do something about it. Changing his heart seems like a pretty good way to do that.”

Morgana sighed. “Fine, fine, it’s not like I can really stop you. You could just come back again anyway, clearly.” He tilted his head in thought. “Actually, this could work out well for all of us. You can decide whether or not you actually want to change Kamoshida’s heart, Gloves over there can figure out whatever is drawing him in, and I can investigate more.” He nodded, then smiled. “Alright, let’s do this! I’ll show you the ropes of fighting when we find a lone shadow, alright?” Morgana said, nodding to Akira.

“Sounds good to me, I guess.” Akira opened the door and stepped out.

_Why on Earth did he call me Gloves?_

The three snuck through Kamoshida’s Palace, slipping past guards and through doors as they explored the strange castle. If Ryuji was a little less coordinated or a little slower than the other two, no one said anything; Morgana and Akira had the powers of their Personas helping them, after all.

Eventually the trio came to a spiral staircase leading down, screams echoing up from below them. Ryuji snarled and began running down the stairs, the other two fast on his heels.

“God, I’m going to stop whatever messed up thing is going on down here!” Ryuji growled, anger filling his voice.

“Blondie, they aren’t real! They’re just cognitions, there aren’t any real people down here.” Morgana’s eyes widened as he looked at the bottom of the staircase. “Stop! There’s a Shadow down there!”

The trio stopped and hid against the banister. Akira looked over the edge at the stationary Shadow, then ducked down and turned to Morgana. “Think we can take it? It doesn’t look like it’s going to move any time soon.”

Morgana smirked. “Of course we can, I could probably do it on my own.” He turned to Ryuji. “Stay out of the way, okay? You can’t fight these guys without a Persona.”

Ryuji looked at Morgana, then grumbled, “Sure, whatever. Go beat up ghosts or whatever.”

Morgana sighed but didn’t correct him. “Alright Glasses, let’s do this!” The cat ran out in front of the Shadow, Akira quick on his tail.

“You there, intruders! King Kamoshida demands you turn yourselves in!” The knight’s red eyes gleamed menacingly as he yelled at the two.

Akira nonchalantly replied, “Sorry, I don’t think we’ll be doing that today. We’ve got other plans.”

“Fine then! I’ll show you the might of King Kamoshida!” the guard cried, erupting into red and black liquid. Out of the newly formed puddle rose two identical winged women, wearing blue leotards and boots. 

Morgana and Akira jumped back slightly, Akira’s hand going to his mask while Morgana pulled a slingshot from seemingly nowhere. 

One of the women smiled and flapped her wings, a sudden whirlwind shooting towards Akira, the gusts strong enough to leave shallow cuts all over his body. Akira smirked, Arsene appearing behind him, the flames within him smouldering. With a cry, Akira ripped his mask off and the flames within Arsene became a roaring inferno, black spikes of energy shooting out and slamming into the woman that had attacked Akira. 

Morgana dodged another gust of wind and shot the other with his slingshot, causing her to fall to the ground. Grinning, he peppered the remaining one with shots, causing her to disintegrate into grey ash. 

Akira and Morgana nodded at each other then dashed in, Akira’s dagger and Morgana’s cutlass making quick work of the Shadow. As the shadow turned to ash and the ash faded away on an unseen wind, Akira spotted a small sack on the ground.

“Hey Morgana, what’s that?” He pointed to the sack.

“Oh, right! I forgot to mention, but the shadows drop those sometimes. I haven’t really paid attention to them, I haven’t found anything useful but you can look if you want.”

Ryuji ducked out from cover, a curious look to his face as he picked up the bag. Akira walked over to him, also curious. Ryuji reached in and pulled out a small wad of yen, shock crossing his face. “Dude! There’s money in here!”

Akira took one of the bills and looked at it, squinting. “I mean it looks real, but…” He turned to Morgana. “Why would Shadows be carrying money?”

The cat shrugged. “I dunno, it’s not really that useful in the Metaverse. Go ahead and take it, no one is going to miss it.”

Ryuji grinned and pocketed the cash, before grimacing as another scream cut through the air. “Alright, let’s go figure out what that screaming ’s about, yeah?”

The trio set off through the door, finding themself in a dungeon. Barred cells ran down both walls, a small underground river running through the middle of the room. A drawbridge stood upright, ready to be lowered to cross the river. The cells here were empty, but cries of pain could still be heard further in.

Approaching the bridge, they came upon a bizarre sculpture of Kamoshida’s head, his mouth wide open in some approximation of a grin.

“How d’you think we make the bridge go down?” Ryuji questioned, a look of faint disgust on his face as he stared at the statue.

Akira thought for a second, _Well, he’s obviously obsessed with images of himself, and his mouth looks weird…_ Sighing to himself, he reached for the statue’s mouth and pulled down. It slid down with his hand and a click was heard, the statue’s mouth remaining open, jaw appearing distended and grotesque as its eyes lit up and the bridge lowered.

“Well that’s disgusting,” Akira said, a look of disgust covering his face as he stared at the statue.

“Let’s just...let’s just go, okay?” Morgana said. Nodding, Akira and Ryuji quietly followed him across the bridge, the statue fresh in their minds.

The trio continued towards the screams, Morgana and Akira occasionally stopping to fight any shadows that appeared while Ryuji hung back and out of the way. Eventually they reached a large room, the underground river flowing next to them with larger spans of prison bars than the previous rooms. The screams were very clearly coming from this room, louder than any other room.

Ryuji rushed ahead, looking through the bars. “What the hell man, I recognize this guy! He’s on the volleyball team!”

Akira and Morgana joined him in looking through the bars. Inside, there was someone - a Shujin student, in the PE uniform, from the looks of it - chained up and being repeatedly hit with volleyballs fired from a cannon. Rage filled Ryuji’s face as he rushed off, looking in each of the cells. “They’re all like this! They’re just people bein’ tortured!”

Akira’s face darkened and Morgana growled. The two caught up to Ryuji and Morgana hissed at him, “Look I get you’re angry but you’ve gotta keep your voice down, the guards will hear you and they’ll come catch us!”

A low chuckle sounded out from the door the three had entered. “Oh it’s too far too late for that, you stupid peasants.” The three turned in the direction of the voice.

Standing with a large group of guards was King Kamoshida, a smug grin on his face as he looked at the trio. “I think it’s time the intruders in my castle get dealt with. For the crime of trespassing, and further insulting me by returning, I sentence you to death.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really like this chapter overly much to be honest, it just feels somewhat off. Might be because it's the first fight scene I've written, I'm not sure.
> 
> Also, I'm going to go back through the past few chapters and do some editing, nothing major just get rid of a few things that don't make sense or change a few things I think could be better.


	9. Chapter 9

_Three, six, nine...Too many. We can’t handle this._ Akira glanced behind him. _Dead end; no escape this time._ He sighed. “Well, guys, looks we don’t have much of a choice here. Mona, next to me; don’t let them slip past us. Ryuji, stay behind us and call out anything you think we’ve missed.” He drew his knife. _Here goes nothing._

Morgana and Ryuji moved to follow Akira’s orders as Kamoshida called out to them, “Heh, sure. I’ll let you have a solid chance I guess, let’s see how long you trash can last.” A nod from Akira led to a flick of the King’s wrist, the guards around him surging forward.

The first guard to meet Akira swung its sword, not even bothering to transform. He parried the blade with ease, wielding his dagger as familiar as breathing. A slash to the sword arm; a stab piercing straight through the chestplate; a kick leaving the guard on the ground; just like that, a pile of ash was all that remained of the Shadow.

A glance at Morgana revealed his Persona floating above him, a whirlwind of dust around the small not-a-cat as he jumped between two guards. Akira ripped off his mask, his eyes flipping from steel gray to crimson red in an instant; a grin filled his face as he darted forward. Arsene’s black wings flared out, covering Akira as he slashed and stabbed, a whirlwind with little regard for his own safety. “ _This is so. Much. FUN!”_

The King chuckled, his crown sticking to his head impossibly as he leaned back and his chuckled grew into a bellowing laugh. “You! You’re having FUN?! Oh, this is great! You’re filling the ‘deranged lunatic criminal’ to a T!” He stopped laughing, a scowl filling his face. “Now that you’ve had your fun, I’d say it’s time things get serious, yeah?”

_I said that out loud didn’t I._

Three of the guards closest to Kamoshida stepped forward. Each one peeled apart into the black and red goo of a transforming Shadow. The puddles merged, forming one large puddle, and from it, stepped a massive knight. Gleaming crimson plate, a massive spear, and a horse like a demon. Morgana recognized it immediately. “Glasses! That’s Eligor! It’s way stronger than anything we’ve seen so far!”

Akira’s grin only widened, his dagger spinning between his fingers as Arsene’s flame began to intensify. “I’ll choose to take that as a challenge, Mona.”

Ryuji merely watched as Akira was mobbed and pinned by guards. Arsene disappeared behind him and the cocky, excited grin disappeared; in its place was anger and just the slightest bit of fear. Morgana finally fell to the two guards he was fighting, a blade at his neck and a boot on his head.

Kamoshida turned to him, “Well then, Sakamoto. It looks like you’ve lost again. You just can’t win with me, can you, _track traitor?”_ The last words were practically spat, a scowl once again filling the King’s face. “Stupid coward won’t even help his friends. Guards, grab him; I want to execute him myself. Kill the other two.”

Ryuji was grabbed by either arm as he looked on in shock as Akira and Morgana were stood up and marched to the edge of the river. Meanwhile, Kamoshida walked up to him and began taunting him with a grin on his face. “Oh come on Sakamoto, where’s that fire? You’re so fast to defend yourself or that good-for-nothing mother of yours, but you won’t do anything for your pathetic friends?” Ryuji looked the King dead in the eye, anger flickering across his face, before being replaced with resignation.

“Hold!” The guards holding Akira and Morgana stopped just short of throwing them into the river. “Well Sakamoto, now’s your chance. Hit me, just like you did last time, you useless scum. Or would you like to hear all about how your mother made it up to me?” Ryuji began fighting the guards holding him as Kamoshida berated his mother.

“Ryuji!” The blonde’s head snapped to Akira. “Are you just going to stand there and take it?! Get angry! Don’t let him get away with it again!”

Ryuji growled at Kamoshida, “Yeah. Yeah! You know what, _fuck you_ , Kamoshida! I don’t have to take shit from you, you stupid bastard!” He thrashed as the hold on his arms tightened.

Kamoshida smirked. “Woah there, it looks like the school delinquent is getting rowdy again. I guess I’ll have to…” He cocked his arm back. “DEFEND MYSELF!”

With a roar, the King let a haymaker fly directly into Ryuji’s gut. The blonde bent over in pain, which only served to enrage him further as he struggled to break free from the guards’ hold.

Suddenly, Ryuji heard a powerful, commanding voice in his head.

_**Took ye long enough, lad!** _

Pain filled his body, centered around his head and chest, overriding all else.

_**Well tell me, was it a mistake that ye threw that punch? Or would ye do it again?** _

“Hell no! I’d do it again in an instant!” Ryuij grit his teeth as his eyes flashed yellow.

_**Even at yer own loss, ye'd help those most in need?** _

“Hell yeah! What do I even have to lose?!”

_**Well said, boy! Let us sign a contract, then…** _

Blue fire sprang out, sparking from Ryuji’s chest.

_**I am thou, thou art I** _

**_Thou who would throw away yer own reputation to help others,_ **

**_Thou who has been robbed of that which ye’ve earned,_ **

The blue flame flooded over him, a metal skull flickering over his face.

_**Hoist the Jolly Roger, and ye shall live by it’s dreaded oath!** _

**_Never again shall ye hide from the evil you see!_ **

The pain and fire faded and the blonde slipped through the Shadow’s grasp, his metal skull mask still flickering with flame. He grabbed it with both hands, beginning to tear it away from his face.

“Let’s light ‘em up, Captain Kidd!” A burst of blood and a flash of blue fire; Suddenly, a ghostly skeleton captain stood aboard a pirate ship, Jolly Roger flickering in an invisible wind. The Captain’s coat was torn and tattered, but waved and snapped in the wind. The grin it wore beneath a ghastly tricorne hat spoke of neither mercy nor forgiveness, but only righteous vengeance. A golden cannon stood out in place of its right arm, lighting flickering around it as it began to glow from within.

“SHIT! RUN!” Kamoshida cried and ran, terror etched on his face as he scurried away from the newly Awakened Persona. As he turned the corner, far ahead of his slow moving guards, the glow from the Captain’s cannon became unbearably bright.

Ryuji pointed at the group of guards left behind and cried, “FIRE!” A massive bolt of lightning shot out, hitting the closest guard and quickly bouncing to the rest, a spider’s web of deadly current. The guards froze, shook, and poofed into ash. Eligor shuddered, muscles locking, as the remnants of the strike danced over his armor and died, leaving behind a Lichtenberg burn as it did so.

Akira and Morgan formed up beside him. “Let’s take this guy down!” The two nodded, Akira's hand going to his mask as Morgana readied his saber. Ryuji pulled a pipe out of nowhere and layed it across his shoulder easily, both hands holding it, like a batter ready to swing.

All three charged the knight. Ryuji slammed his pipe into the head of the horse while Morgana leaped up and carved a dent into the knight’s helmet. Akira ripped his mask off with a roar and Arsene’s infernal flame flared, lashing out across the knight’s chestplate. Everywhere that was touched by the fire rusted, years of wear occurring in an instant. Ryuji slammed his pipe through the weakened armor, flinging the knight into the river as it and the horse dissolved into ash. He threw up a hand sign to the other two, a wild grin on his face.

“That, was AWESOME!” Ryuji cried. “You guys never said having a Persona was this cool!” He then fell to his knees, half supporting himself with his pipe. “Actually, this is exhausting too. Let’s get the hell out of here, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan. Here, lean on me, man, we’ll get out of here faster.” Akira helped Ryuji up and nodded to Morgana as they began walking out of the dungeon.

Akira didn’t say anything to the others. _If they saw Ryuji’s...shadow, I guess? Whatever it was, they definitely haven’t said anything._

When Ryuji had awoken to his Persona, Akira had faintly seen another Ryuji, with golden eyes and a proud smile on his face. He had heard what it said as if it was shouting, yet no one else had reacted. Arsene gave the mental equivalent of a knowing smirk, somehow, but hadn’t said much. Really, he didn’t talk much at all, so far as Akira could tell.

Shaking his head, he focused instead on Ryuji. The blonde was exhausted, leaning heavily on Akira as the trio worked their way back to where they had entered the Palace in relative silence. Once they had reached the small library, he turned to Morgana.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have any way to heal us, would you?”

Morgana nodded, “Yeah, I can do some healing. I can understand you not being able to, that fire seemed really destructive.” The not-cat summoned Zorro behind him and said, “Dia.” With a flourish, the fencer swung his sword and a healing glow surrounded Akira, healing the bruises and cuts he had sustained while in the Palace.

“Thanks Morgana, you’re a huge help.” Akira smiled faintly. “Here, help me get Ryuji up this bookshelf.”

Ryuji felt a warmth flood his body, not removing the exhaustion of his Awakening, but allowing him to work past it for a short time. “Actually, I think I just felt the physical part of getting a Persona, I think I can jump it.”

Morgana frowned, “Alright, but at least let me heal you too, just to be safe.” He repeated the process on Ryuji in much the same way as he had for Akira.

Ryuji thanked him and then crouched, feeling the warmth pool in his legs before he _leapt,_ becoming a blur and reappearing on top of the bookcase. “That is the weirdest feeling ever, but cool as hell,” he shook his head, a grin on his face, as he crawled out the window.

Akira turned to Morgana. “Thanks for helping us out, Morgana. I don’t know if we’ll be back, but I get the feeling we’re supposed to be here.”

Morgana frowned, eyes glassy as he stared off into the distance for a moment. Shaking his head, he nodded. ‘No problem Glasses, couldn’t have a couple of rookies dying on me. I’ll try to get into contact with you guys somehow, I have a proposal for you.”

Akira’s brow quirked. “A proposal? You’ve piqued my interest.”

Clanking could be heard faintly, growing slowly louder. “Later, right now you two need to leave and I need to go find somewhere to hide for a bit.” Morgana turned and ran out the door, leaving it slightly ajar as he did so.”

Akira jumped to the top of the bookcase and out the window, then helped Ryuji out of the Palace.

_Something tells me this is far from the last time I’ll be here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that happened. I feel a lot better about this fight scene than the one in the last chapter; it just sort of flowed better. Ryuji gets his Bad Ass Moment, Akira gets all stabby, it was fun to write.
> 
> The sports rally is going to be pushed back a few days from cannon, since it feels really rushed to me and I'd like a little bit of time to have Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana interact a bit. Plus, the way it plays out in the game wouldn't really make sense with what I've written so far. The boys haven't really talked about changing Kamoshida's heart, so they can't be galvanized into that course of action yet, and again, I just want some more time to have characters interact. Maybe Ann won't go from 'strange girl with blonde hair' to 'Certified Phantom Thief' in the span of like a day, who knows.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College kicked my ass this past week, so this chapter is a day late. Sorry about that, didn't expect things to be so hectic. This chapter is a bit more lighthearted than the last few, which is probably a good thing?
> 
> In other news, Ryuji says fuck, don't tell Atlus. They might get concerned about their game that's rated M having bad words in it.

Ryuji immediately fell against the wall upon leaving the Metaverse, sinking to sit on the ground, his head on his knees.“ _Fuck_ dude, I’m exhausted. I feel like I just ran across all of Tokyo.”

Akira sat next to him, pulling a bottle of water out of his bag and handing it to Ryuji. “Yeah, it’s definitely a draining experience. I didn’t feel all that great yesterday either, to be honest.”

Ryuji took a drink from the water bottle and then turned to stare at Akira, “Oh yeah, about that. What the hell, man?! How are you so chill about all this crazy shit happenin’?”

Akira shrugged, looked up at the sky. He paused for a second. “I don’t know, really. I’ve always been pretty adaptable, and things have been crazy since I got to Tokyo. I haven’t really thought about it, honestly. I’ve just rolled with the punches and taken things as they come, you know?”

Ryuji stared at him for a second, then turned to look out of the alley in front of the school they had reappeared in. “Alright man, whatever work for you I guess. I’m glad I got this Persona thing though, I might be exhausted but I never felt this confident about being me before.”

Akira turned to him, his eyebrow rising slightly, “What’d you mean, confident about being you?”

Ryuji shrugged, taking another drink of his water bottle. “I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s like, I dunno, some part of me that...well it wasn’t missing, but I wasn’t aware of it before, you know? Like I realized the parts of me that I were hiding from are there and that’s okay, that kinda thing.”

Akira stared back up at the sky for a moment. _I didn’t feel all that different after getting Arsene. Maybe a little more alive when I tore off my mask, but…_

He nodded his head. “That makes sense, that’s sort of how I felt after I got Arsene.” He turned to Ryuji. “Are you feeling good enough to get home on your own?”

The blonde nodded, and stood up. “I think I’ll be fine, but I’m taking the biggest nap of my life when I get home.”

* * *

When Akira returned to Leblanc, there were no customers in sight. There was Sojiro standing behind the counter, looking thoroughly bored while staring at a crossword, however. When Akira walked through the door, Sojiro barely looked at him before grunting and returning to his crossword.

“Can I use one of the booths to study for a bit?” Akira asked as he walked in, a slight frown on his face.

Sojiro turned to him, a look of surprise on his face. “Sure, I guess. Don’t bother anyone and stay out of the way if someone comes in, you here?” He sighed, frowning at his crossword. “Didn’t think a punk like you would bother studying.”

A hint of a smile came to Akira’s face as he sat down at the booth furthest from the door, his bag next to him. “Well, I was actually one of the better students where I used to go to school. There isn’t much to do besides study and work in the countryside, you know.” He took out his books and began flipping through one of them.

Sojiro, meanwhile, turned his frown onto Akira. “What, you’re telling me there was nowhere to hang out with your friend or anything?”

Akira merely shrugged and continued studying, the smile falling from his face.

* * *

The next day was uneventful until lunch, when Akira found himself talking to a cat in the school courtyard. Well, not a cat, actually. He was talking to Morgana, who only _looked_ like a cat. Apparently.

“I’m telling you, I’m not a cat!” The not-a-cat cried, the fur on his back standing up.

“Sure thing, cat. Just don’t get a hairball on me, yeah?” Ryuji grinned, apparently taking joy out of teasing the not-a-cat.

Just then a teacher cried from the other side of the courtyard, “I think I heard it over here! Come on!”

Morgana panicked. “They’re trying to find me! Quick, you have to hide me somewhere!”

Ryuji grinned and picked the not-a-cat up by the scruff of his neck, then stuffed him in Akira’s bag.

All was silent where the trio were standing as the teachers rushed by, until a door was heard closing in the distance. Then, Akira’s bag was suddenly and loudly full of an angry not-cat.

“Blondie! I swear to god, when I get out of here I’m going to claw your face off!” Morgana continued to flail around in Akira’s bag. Were anyone else paying attention, it would seem the transfer student had suddenly summoned a cat-themed demon into his bag, though most just ignored the supposed criminal.

Morgana finally popped his head out of Akira’s bag and scowled at Ryuji, despite his face not being designed to scowl. “You’ll pay for this, you know.”

Ryuji just grinned and rubbed the top of Morgana’s head. “We’ll just have to wait and see, huh, cat.”

Akira decided to clear his throat and break up the two before they started bickering again. “ _Anyway_. Morgana, didn’t you say you have a proposition or something for us today?”

“Oh, right!” Morgana perked up, then looked between the other two seriously. “You said you wanted to do something about this Kamoshida guy, right, Blondie?”

Ryuji scowled, but replied, “Yeah, that rat bastard has been acting like the king of this place forever. No one does anything about it, either.”

Morgana nodded, “Well, what if I told you we could make him do something about it himself?”

Both Akira and Ryuji looked at Morgana in curiosity. “What’d you mean, Morgana?” Akira asked.

“Well, the Palace is a manifestation of how Kamoshida sees the world, right?” The other two nodded. “The only reason a Palace manifests is because whoever created it sees the world way differently than it actually is, otherwise basically everyone would have a Palace. And at the center of a Palace is the source of that distorted view of the world, or what I like to call a Treasure. So, if we steal that Treasure, we’d basically be forcing Kamoshida to see the world as it actually is, and he’d realize all the terrible things you said he’s done are, well, terrible.”

Ryuji nodded and pumped his fist, “Hell yeah! So if he realizes what he’s done is bad, then he’ll confess to all of that messed up shit! Let’s do it!”

Akira’s brow furrowed. “What’s the catch?”

Ryuji turned to him, “Huh? Wha’d you mean, what’s the catch?”

“I mean, think about it. Morgana is talking about the ability to effectively make anyone - whether they’re a perverted gym teacher, or a corrupt politician, or even some kind of Yakuza boss - to immediately feel guilty for their crimes and probably confess. I’m sure you’ve played enough video games or something to know that there’s always a downside to something like this.”

Morgana spoke up then, “He’s right, there is a catch. When you steal a Treasure, you’re changing someone’s distorted worldview, but the source of that is some kind of distorted desire. Human beings need desire to exist though; without it, you wouldn’t want to eat food, or have kids, or any of the other thousand things that you guys need to do to live. There’s a chance that stealing his Treasure could...well, it could kill him.”

Ryuji’s face fell and he scratched the back of his head. “Shit dude, I don’t want to kill him. He’s a terrible person, but he doesn’t deserve to die.”

Morgana nodded. “That’s why I’m just proposing this to you guys, it’s a lot to think about. I have my own reasons for wanting to steal a Treasure, but if you guys decide against it, I’ll find someone else to steal one from.”

Akira shrugged, “Well, thanks for suggesting it to us. It’s something we’ll have to keep in mind, I suppose.” He turned to Ryuji. “Let me know what you decide, yeah? I’ll go with whatever you say.”

The blonde’s eyes widened as he looked at Akira, “What the hell, man? You’re going to just let me decide this? Don’t you have an opinion on whether or not we should kill someone?”

Akira shrugged. “You’ve got far more invested into this guy confessing than I do right now. I just moved here a few days ago. You don’t have to decide now, just think about it.”

Ryuji nodded a concerned look on his face, “Yeah...alright man, I’ll, uh...I’ll think about it.”

“Great! Now that that’s worked out, where am I staying?” Morgana chirped.

“Wait, what? Why do we need to figure out where you’re staying?” Ryuji stared at the not-cat, confusion painted on his face.

“Well I can’t just be a stray! Besides the fact that that’s no way for a thief to live, I’d have no way to contact you guys!”

Ryuji sighed, exasperated. “Well I can’t take you in, there’s no room in my apartment and I think my mom is allergic to cats, anyway.” He turned to Akira. “Think you can take him?”

_Well Sojiro never said I couldn’t get a cat...though he’d probably be annoyed that I didn’t ask. It’s not like he likes me anyway though, maybe he’s a cat person…?_

Akira shrugged. “I can probably take in a cat, I’ll let you know if there’s a problem later tonight, alright?”

Morgana smiled, “Alright! I’m just gonna hide in here the rest of the day, this bag is actually pretty comfy.” He ducked back into the bag, seemingly disappearing inside.

The bell rang as the trio broke up. Ryuji and Akira agreed to meet up tomorrow to talk more about what to do with Kamoshida’s treasure, and Morgana somehow convinced Akira to let him hide in his desk during class.

_God my life just keeps getting weirder…_

* * *

The first thing Sojiro notices when Akira walks through the door today is that his bag looks stuffed full of something. The second he notices is that he’s carrying a small stack of papers, for some reason outside of his bag. The third is that he is walking decidedly faster than usual, and pointedly doesn’t turn to look at him before scurrying up the stairs to his room.

_What an odd kid...I’m sure I’ll hear about it soon enough._

When Sojiro hears meowing coming from the attic ten minutes later, he’s glad he doesn’t have any customers in the store. He doesn’t want to have to explain why he’s carrying a cat out the door from the attic.

He just doesn’t expect the cat to be so damn _cute_. So when Akira asks to keep him and says he’ll get a part time job to take care of it, Sojiro finds himself agreeing. He’s _disappointed_ when the boy says the cat already has a name and that he can’t name it Prince, which baffles him.

He’s even more baffled when, ten minutes later, he’s back up the stairs with a plate of tuna for the cat, claiming it’s meows were too cute to not give it food.

And thus, Sojiro had adopted a cat which his temporary ward found on his way home from school, when really all he wanted was to finish his crossword in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Chapter. Done. Let me know what you think, I didn't have nearly as long to think about this one or proofread as I have for the last few. 
> 
> This chapter and the last one have been right around a tenth of the length of this entire fic when they were posted, and if that stays a trend I'm going to be writing entire novels per chapter soon. I find that thought both amusing and terrifying, because good lord is that way more than I think I could write in a week.
> 
> EDIT: Well I forgot to put in the horizontal lines I use to notate scene changes. And didn't notice for a week. So those are there now.


	11. Brief Update

Hello! So. I'm 3 days late, and no chapter. It's, at best, half-written, and at worst, I'm thinking about starting from scratch anyway. I don't really know where I'm going with this, and it's already becoming a problem, so I can only imagine it will get worse as this story gets longer. Already some things that I want to do would either require me going back and editing things, condensing things in a way I don't like, or just skipping out on my ideas entirely. None of which sound particularly appealing. College is also kicking my ass, so I've had less time than I'd like to work on this. So, here's what I'm thinking:

I'm putting this on hiatus. Not indefinitely, because I really like this story, but just for a month or so. Enough time to get at least a vague idea of how I want things to go, and get important things much more concrete. I'm hoping this will also be enough time to get into a rhythm with college, and ideally I'd like to write a bit of a backlog, in case I don't have time to write for a week or two.

Once I'm back, I'm going to replace this with an actual story chapter, and post a new one, to make sure things update. I'll probably also be going back and changing previous chapters way more than I have previously, and honestly I'm not entirely sure if the changes I've done ever left my google document for this story. I might change the name too, just because I think it sounds dumb. Suggestions are appreciated, I'm not very good at naming things, in all honesty.

I'd hate to just abandon this story, especially if it's over my own inability to plan things. So I'm taking a break, and then hopefully things will be back in order. I'm also probably going to change to updating on Saturdays or Sundays, since it turns out that Friday is actually a busy day now.

Thanks for all the kudos and kind comments on previous chapters, I really appreciate them. I guess I'll see you guys in a month or so!

-Stori


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